How to do a monthly reading review

Include every book from the month

Gather the books you finished, started, continued and put aside. A long novel still in progress belongs in your month too.

Do not judge a month by finishes alone: a short story collection and a long study take different amounts of time. Note separately which books you want to return to.

Revisit a few notes

Choose a quote that still matters, a thought you now disagree with or an idea you have tried. You do not have to find all three.

Add a sentence or two about what has changed since you wrote it. To explore putting ideas into practice, try a small practical experiment.

Put reading time in context

Think about when reading fitted your day and when travel, work or tiredness got in the way. If you track time, compare the numbers with your schedule before changing your goal.

Reading you did not record will be missing from the statistics. No sessions in an app does not necessarily mean you never opened a book; note the gap and use your memory and notes as well.

Copy this short template

Answer in your own words, without having to give the month a score:

• What did I finish, and what am I continuing?
• Which book stayed with me, and why?
• Which note do I want to revisit?
• When was reading convenient?
• What one thing will I try next month?

Here is a filled-in example invented for this guide:

October. Finished a short story collection; still reading the novel. The story with the unreliable narrator stayed with me, and I want to reread its ending. Reading worked well on the train; at home in the evening I was often distracted. In November I will take stories on the train and leave the novel for weekends.

Add numbers if they help you make a decision. This is text for a notebook or a note, not a dedicated Pagetime form.

Choose one next step

Continue the current book, put an unsuitable one aside or try a short morning session: one decision is enough. A large set of new rules is harder to evaluate next month.

If many books are waiting, choose what to read next. A reading journal keeps a record of each book; a monthly review brings together impressions from several.

Use Pagetime’s numbers as a starting point

In Pagetime’s statistics, the current month’s recap shows saved reading time and the numbers of books finished, books added and notes written. Keep your own reflections in a notebook, another notes app or a thought without a book attached in Pagetime.

The free version includes up to 5 books, 20 page scans with text recognition in total and statistics for this month and last month. Notes and the timer work offline without an account. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks the full stats history. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; leave your email below to hear about the launch.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.